The Opposite of Adults
by hippygirlruby
Summary: Alicia Cavanaugh is your typical good girl who follows all the rules and likes everything just-so. So what would happen if her brother started to get out of control? And how would her life change if a new boy came to the school and started to change her views about everything? First loves can be intense. (Complete AU!)
1. First Impressions

_AN: Just saying quickly that I'm new here to the site! This is the first fanfic I have posted. I've been writing a bit recently for The Good Wife because how amazing is it?! Plus I've been reading some fics for a while. And I'm devastated about recent events because I am a huge Willicia fan. Anyhow, I wrote this very AU thing. I just wanted to experience Alicia and Owen as teenagers (especially with how bad Owen was) but I also didn't want to give Will up because I love him dearly. So I put them all together. Now some things from the show will probably be incorporated, regarding A and O as teens because that is what inspired me. Please review and let me know if whether you like it enough for me to continue! _

_And of course, I do not own The Good Wife or its characters; I'm just messing with 'em._

* * *

Alicia Cavanaugh was a good girl by anyone's standards. She always did her homework on time, helped with chores around the house, kept her room clean at all times, didn't go out and party recklessly like her brother. She was polite, quiet and extremely nice. She didn't have time to be a bad kid because her brother had been bad enough for the both of them. Not to mention that her parents fought a lot and she had to be a grown up long before she turned eighteen. She was never fond of chaos or disorder in her life and didn't see a reason for that to change. That was of course until the new kid in town caught her eye. She once told herself to never let her life become one of those books where the girl's life suddenly changes just because of one boy, but no one had told her that life was actually like that. Her mother should have let her into the secret of how much everything changes when you meet a boy who you think (and could be) _the one._

She had never put much credence in believing there was a _one_ for her.

\\

The first day of her last year at high school... Alicia Cavanaugh hated high school as much as the next person but she had survived through it so far and she knew she could get through the last year. She did of course have to keep an eye on her younger brother Owen, who was always getting into trouble. She didn't know why he did the things he did because he was a smart boy. She knew it, and she knew that he knew it but he never applied any logic to his daily activities and she couldn't understand it.

"This is going to suck." Owen said at the breakfast table, not eating the pancakes his dad made.

"Sophomore year is easy Owen, you'll do great." Alicia tried to encourage him as she took a bite of her own food.

"Maybe it was for you. You're the great one." He smiled at her with a snarky look.

"I'll take any sort of compliment so, thank you Owen." She smiled at him sweetly, choosing to ignore his look.

"Anybody want more?" Their father called from the kitchen. They called out 'no' in unison and then their mother came into the room.

"Morning kids." She said dully.

"Morning." Owen greeted back, but Alicia nodded her head and remained silent.

"Alicia, you'll be driving today, won't you?" Her mother asked her tediously.

"Yeah. Is it okay if I take your car? Mine was making a weird noise so dad is taking it to get it looked over."

"Sure, that's fine." Her mother tried a smile and then left the room.

"You're taking me right?" Owen asked his big sister.

"No, I was going to let you walk." She said sarcastically. "Of course I'll take you." Owen smiled at her then picked up his plate and took it to the kitchen. Alicia continued to finish her pancakes and eat some fruit before she took her plate out to the sink. Her dad was standing at the counter drinking a cup of coffee.

"How were they?" He asked.

"Perfect as always dad." She smiled warmly at him and placed her plate in the sink.

"Big day!" He exclaimed. "Excited?"

"I guess. I don't know. Nervous." She replied, placing her right hand over her left elbow and pulling one leg around the other.

"Don't be nervous sweet pea. It'll be great." Alicia always loved her dad using that name. He'd used it since she could remember. She was definitely daddy's little girl and wasn't ashamed in saying so. She'd always had the feeling inside of her that her mother never really liked her much. The affection she was given had gotten better as she got older but as a small girl her mother never did anything with her. She had her hands full with Owen, not that Alicia was blaming him for being a better little brother, and she just wished her mom could have been as attentive with her.

"Alicia!" She heard Owen call to her from upstairs.

"What?" She yelled back.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes." Alicia ran upstairs and grabbed her school bag and went on a search to find her mom, whom she found sitting on the couch on the porch out the back of their house reading the newspaper and drinking coffee.

"Mom? I need your keys." Her mother looked up at her daughter and smiled. She put the newspaper down and went to Alicia.

"I don't say this enough, but you are a beautiful girl." Alicia carefully tried not to roll her eyes, knowing that her mother was getting one of her sentimental strokes.

"Okay. You are too, mom. Keys?" Her mom brushed back some of Alicia's wild hair.

"In the bowl by the front door."

"Thanks. I'll see you when we get home." Alicia smiled and turned around, walking to the front door. Veronica was an interesting woman and Alicia hoped she could one day figure out who her mother was, but she knew it seemed unlikely.

"Owen!" Alicia called up the stairs as she passed them and waited by the front door. Owen trudged down the stairs, slipped his shoes on which he left by the door and started to leave.

"Ugh, let's go."

"Wait a minute." Their dad called out from the kitchen. "You both have everything you need?" He asked. The both nodded to him and he smiled, proud of them. He wouldn't admit it, but Henry Cavanaugh was excited to not have his kids roaming around the house any longer. They were usually insufferable when they had to spend so much time together, but he loved them more than anything. "Well, learn some stuff and get inspired." He told them this every time they went to their first day of school, a special tradition. The kids hugged their father and left for school.

\\

"I hear there is a new kid doing senior year here." Alicia's friend Claudia said to her as they walked through the school hallways trying to find their new lockers.

"Oh, have you seen them yet?" Alicia asked with minimal curiosity, focused on where she was going.

"Not yet, but Sam saw him in the front office this morning."

"Him?"

"Yeah, it's a guy. I wonder if he's cute." Her friend said to herself more than to Alicia. Claudia was just as good and pristine as Alicia but had a lot more interest in boys and being social. She had gorgeous long, dusty blonde hair that hung way down to her lower back. Everyone envied her hair, especially the way it never tangled. It was a mystery. Alicia would have done anything to have that kind of hair, but she was stuck with a heap of unruly curly dark chocolate brown hair that was always difficult to deal with on a daily basis.

"Of course you would wonder that." Alicia joked with her friend. They both laughed and stopped by a row of lockers that they discovered was theirs.

"I hope I have a class with him, or see him at lunch. I have to know what he's like."

"What classes do you have? Because if I get stuck with Mr. Baker on my own in AP English then I might die." He wasn't a particularly awful teacher, but he had a habit of talking excessively about nothing to do with the class work and making the class listen to him. And excessive talk could not be tolerated in the last year of high school.

"Oh, sorry, I'm in Mrs. Bell's class." Claudia said with regret in her voice as she piled in some fresh and empty folders into her new locker.

"Damn it. Well, I'll be fine. I'm sure someone will help me get through it."

Claudia turned to her and leaned against the hard, cold metal, "You are going to come to the start of year party aren't you?" She asked.

"I… Uh… Can't." Alicia only went to one other high school party in her life and it was a disaster. She had gone with Claudia who eventually got drunk and left Alicia alone who didn't have a ride back to her house, so she had to walk home after one of her drunk classmates groped her breast and tried to kiss her.

"You have to, Alicia! I know you hate parties but you have to go to this one, and the end of year party. It's pretty much mandatory for seniors." Claudia pleaded with her.

"I just don't think it's necessary I go. I probably won't have any fun and be gone an hour after it starts."

"No, please go. I won't be insane like last time and we'll have fun together. It's at Andrew's house and remember, he has a pool. It'll be so fun." Claudia tried her hardest to sell it as a good thing but Alicia just wasn't convinced, but for the sake of school traditions she'd decide to think it over.

"I'll think about it." Claudia squealed loudly and clapped her hands, then threw her arms around Alicia and hugged tight. "Okay, okay. It's only a maybe. Don't get too excited." And at that moment the first bell rang out into the hallways, almost deafening them.

"First day back and I'm ready for it to be over." Claudia quipped then gave Alicia a wave goodbye as she headed off to her first class. Alicia shut her locker with a single folder in her arms and made her way to her AP English class. She pulled out the small piece of paper that had her timetable printed on it and looked for her classroom number. She weaved her way easily through the masses of younger teenagers to the classroom. She reached the door and looked back down at her timetable to read what her other classes were and when. She walked slowly through the door and bumped hard into someone else. She immediately dropped her folder and bent down to pick it up.

"Crap, I'm sorry." The male voice said. Alicia pulled herself up and looked at the person she had crashed into. She had never seen his face before. She was sure she'd remember that smiling face with the gorgeous brown eyes and floppy light brown hair. She'd definitely remember seeing him...

"It's fine…" She said softly, taken aback at how cute he was.

"This is Mr…" He whipped out his own timetable from his pocket and studied it. "Baker's English right?" He drew his attention back to her and gave a shy smile, which Alicia thought made her blush slightly.

"Uh huh, yep." She always knew what to say and now she was at a staggering loss for words.

"Good. I'm new."

"Oh… I figured." Should she have expanded on that? Asked him something? Like where he had moved from? She was so rarely in an awkward situation and from experiencing one now, she wanted to never be in one again.

"I'm Will." He smiled at her again, seemingly unnoticing her embarrassed teenage girl state.

"Alicia." She darted her eyes to around the room, trying not to stare at his attractiveness any longer.

"Nice to meet you, Alicia. I'll see you around." She nodded her head absentmindedly and watched as he walked away and sat by the back of the class. She had never experienced something like that before. She never noticed how attractive the boys in her year were. It probably had something to do with seeing them all grow up around her. They were still thirteen year old boys who wore dirty clothes and burped in your face in her mind. This new encounter with someone knew, someone she didn't even know was a strangely exciting feeling. She decided to take a seat in one of the middle rows of the classroom beside the windows. She nonchalantly looked over her shoulder and tried to catch a glimpse of this _Will_. He was just sitting there, and he looked so cool while just sitting there and she didn't know how he did that.

_No, get it together. Stop ogling him._ Alicia told herself and snapped her vision back to the front of the class. She couldn't be distracted and she wouldn't let some new kid she knew nothing about let her be distracted. Even if he seemed really nice and even if he was really cute. She wouldn't go there, she said to herself. _She wouldn't go there… _


	2. Fluttery, Tingly, Tipsy-turny

_AN; Thank you to all the reviews I got! So I will continue on for all of you who will read! I'd still love to hear everyone's thoughts on this._

* * *

Alicia made her way out to the school courtyard to sit down with Claudia and have lunch. She still had the new boy Will on her mind and she knew it was ridiculous to keep thinking about him and what type of person he was, but her imagination hadn't stopped running since she met him that morning.

"Hey!" Claudia's hands clapped in front of her, disturbing her out of her day dream.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" She blinked rapidly a few times and focused on her friend, who looked suspicious.

"No, wait. What were you thinking of?"

"Nothing." She said defensively.

"Oh come on, tell me." She said dramatically. Alicia considered lying her way out of it, but it was pointless anyway. She'd tell her friend because that's what friends do.

"I met the new kid." Claudia's face slowly changed from shock to happy.

"What's he like? Oh my god, is he cute? I bet he is. Tell me all about him." She was definitely anxious and excited to hear everything, but there was almost nothing to tell. There really wasn't.

"All I know is that his name is Will. And I guess you could call him cute."

"You think he's cute!" Claudia squealed as they sat down at a table in the shade.

"Not really. I only caught a glimpse of him for a second and that was it. First impression was that he was cute but I might look closely next time and discover the opposite." She wondered if she had started to mumble. She couldn't be sure, but Claudia's face was saying that she was definitely talking more about the new kid than she should have.

"Oh yeah, he's cute." Claudia focused on her lunch while Alicia just started to look out in front of her, remembering Will's face clearly in her mind, especially his dark brown eyes.

"Alicia. I need you to do me favor." She heard her brother come up beside her and sit down with his back to the table.

"What is it?"

"Can you tell mom and dad that I went to the library or something after school?" He was always doing this. Doing _exactly_ what she couldn't say, but Owen always had places to be that usually weren't okay with their parents.

"Where are you really going?"

"Nowhere special. Going to hang out with some friends." That was always the extent of it. There was nowhere in particular that he was going, and there wasn't anyone in particular he was going with. Almost all the time Alicia convinced herself that it was probably best she didn't know, but she'd always cover for Owen because he was mostly a good brother. Just a rebellious kid.

"Okay, fine. You'll be back for dinner though, right?"

"Yep. Oh, I love you big sis!" He said rather gaudy and ran away. As soon as he left Claudia started giggling to herself.

"What?" Alicia asked with a hint of laughter in her own voice.

"He is probably the gayest person I know." Alicia couldn't say differently, Owen was the best and gayest person she knew too, so she just at the table looking at the small tub of yogurt not feeling hungry in the least.

"Do you want this?" Alicia pushed the tub towards her friend. Claudia nodded eagerly and placed it in front of her. At least somebody was hungry, Alicia thought. Then she cast her eyes around the schoolyard. She was unconsciously and yet probably not so unconsciously, looking around for Will. She just wanted to catch another glimpse of him. Curiosity was getting the better of her and it couldn't be stopped. It happened that way when you were in school with the same people for years and then this new, and very cute, boy joined them all. Alicia thought it was like throwing a wasp into a bees nest. It seemed to be something similar, buzzing around and could sting the hell out of you, but there was something noticeably different, something that just wouldn't go unnoticed. And in the middle of her thoughts she spotted him sitting beside a tree with some of the other boys from her year. She let her gaze linger in his direction because Will hadn't noticed that someone was watching him. Of course he wouldn't, Alicia thought, she was too far away and she knew she wasn't the type of pretty girl boys watch in the courtyard.

"You really are somewhere else today…" Claudia snapped her out of day dream yet again. She would admit it, she was somewhere else.

"Yes. Sorry." Claudia gave Alicia a questionable look then looked over her shoulder in the direction Alicia had been looking.

"Is that him?" She asked excitedly.

"Yep."

"He IS cute! There is no maybe about it. He is probably the hottest tamale in this joint." Alicia couldn't help but laugh at her friend. She was never subtle and it Alicia constantly wondered what kept them friends for so long because Alicia was almost the complete opposite of Claudia, socially speaking. "Do you think he'll go to the party this weekend?" Claudia continued, still watching Will. Who, Alicia observed, was shyly laughing with everyone around him, and looking spectacular while doing so.

"I've got no idea."

"Oh, I hope he does." Claudia diverted her attention back to Alicia. "I know I asked you this morning but tell me you will go. I can't bear to be there without you. And there's fresh meat now so that's a reason to go!" Alicia wouldn't exactly class him as fresh meat, and she wouldn't class it as a reason to go to a silly party.

"I'll let you know soon, Claud. I have to think about it. I'm not sure if it'd be worth it for me." Her friend just shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I've got to grab a book in the library. I'll just see you later, okay?" Alicia wanted an excuse to leave but luckily it was pretty legitimate. Claudia tried to protest saying it could wait until later but Alicia darted out of there without giving a properly formed counter argument why it had to be then. She walked swiftly indoors and headed to the library.

As she pondered over the titles of history books (which themselves had 20 years of history on that very shelf) she saw a figure loom in the next aisle. She saw the body through the gaps in the shelves, and she saw it stop right in front of her. She couldn't help but get the chills so she turned around and started to look at the books that were previously behind her. They happened to be big text books of human anatomy but she wasn't going to turn back around and see the creepy looking figure behind the shelf. Instead, the figure moved around and stood at the end of the aisle she was in. She glanced up at it and recognized the mostly unfamiliar face. He smiled nervously at her, and she thought how sweet a sight it was. Alicia felt the corners of her mouth curl up and she moved her attention to some of the books in front of her, faking interest.

"Hi." He finally said and of course she couldn't ignore him. She wasn't entirely sure that she could ignore if she tried, so she turned to face him.

"Hi." She replied softly, unsure of herself.

"Alicia, right?" He was clearly asking if that was actually her name. Not that she could question why. It was easier for everyone at the school to remember one new name to one new face, but he had to memorize a hundred new names and faces.

"Yes. And you're Will, correct?" She properly smiled at him this time and she could almost see a hint of joy in his eyes and she didn't know why.

"I am. Will Gardner that is." He stepped closer to Alicia and put his hands into his pockets. He wore a pair of nice black pants with a simple looking hunter-green t-shirt with a pocket on the left side, high on his chest (which did happen to look rather toned, even through the shirt), and white Chuck Taylor's. It was probably the simplest and laziest of outfits she'd seen but he pulled it off with one notch below perfection.

"Uh, Cavanaugh. I mean, Alicia Cavanaugh…" She mumbled.

"I saw you walk in here and I just thought I'd say hi." He was terrifically un-shy for a first day at a new school and Alicia liked that in him. At least she thought she did, she really didn't know what type of person he was and if this was normal.

"Well, you did." She let out a nervous giggle and immediately wished she hadn't, but he smiled at her anyhow.

"I also wanted to ask…" He looked up to the ceiling and took in a deep breath, then refocused on her. "If you were going to that senior party this weekend?" He asked anxiously. She blinked fast a few times, not believing what he had asked. No one usually payed that much attention to her and they certainly weren't interested in her enough to ask her if she was going to a party. Alicia Cavanaugh was nothing but stunned in this one moment.

"I was thinking about it…" She had to get a grip on her reactions. She had never felt so nervous in her entire life, and it all had something to do with a boy. Boys were not in her sights at all so therefore they weren't something she thought about a lot and let distract her from her work. But here was one doing both.

"I think I'll go. Sounds pretty good. I just met Andrew today and he invited me." Will said confidently, he was probably used to this type of thing Alicia thought. He had probably asked a hundred girls in his past about parties and asked them to go with him. He had this thing down, and she was very new to even the concept of it.

"Oh, good. He's a nice guy." It was the only thing she could think of saying, and it killed her on the inside when she had nothing to say that would contribute to a conversation. Then Will smiled at her again, and she felt the flutter of wings in her stomach.

"Yeah, he seems to be just that." And at that moment the school bell rang out to alert them that it was the end of their lunch break. "Well, back to it then. I'll see you later I guess." And with that he spun around on his sparkling white shoes and walked back down the aisle. Then he paused right at the end of it and looked over his shoulder. "I hope you go to that party. I'd love to see you there." He gave her a boyish grin and walked away effortlessly. Alicia just stood there, feeling incredibly stupid which definitely something she was not. She had just been charmed by this Will Gardner, and it made her feel stupid. She left the library without the book she had gone in to collect, and she had been left with a hazy feeling in her stomach and head. She hadn't really felt like this before, unless you were to count the time Jesse Wilson (one of those popular boys) asked if she wanted to go to a dance with him in middle school, which Alicia would not because he even though she thought she was in love with him all he wanted was a date to make his big-time crush notice him more. So it was the first time she had been heartbroken and every time she felt the same tingly sensation in her abdomen she ran away from it. And now Will had made her feel all those fluttery, tingly, tipsy-turny things at once and she wanted to run away from it.

But she quickly got herself together and firmly told herself that she was an adult now, and this wasn't some 12 year old crush and fake-heartbreak.

Then in two days time she decided to go to the party on Saturday with Claudia (who was thrilled to hear the news) and hope to see Will there. And ever since she made her decision, the fluttery, tingly, tipsy-turny feelings all came back to her.


	3. You're My Favorite

Alicia woke up early on Saturday morning feeling extremely hazy. Something told her it could only because she didn't sleep well as she was feeling nervous about the party later that night. She couldn't stop thinking about how Will said he'd love to see her there. It was such a simple exchange when they were in the library but it had huge effect on her, and it made her realize just how shy she really was. She barely said anything to him while nervously and awkwardly standing in front of him, yet he was the one who approached her and just asked her about the party, and told her he'd love to see her there. That was definitely not going to leave her head any time soon. It probably wouldn't stop running over and over in her head until she saw him at the party later or maybe even until she left the event.

After thinking about it for five minutes Alicia finally dragged herself out of bed. The cold floor giving her a chill up her spine when she set her feet down on the ground. She sluggishly walked out of her room and across the hall to the stairs and slowly went down them as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. The smell of freshly made coffee wafted through the air and she became desperate to have some. As she padded into the kitchen and immediately reached for a mug from one of the cabinets her mother walked in behind her.

"Good morning, Alicia." She said warmly.

"Morning mom." She made her way to the coffee machine and filled her mug.

"Did you have a good sleep sweetheart?" Nothing in her mother's voice told Alicia that she was truly interested on how she had slept.

"Uh huh."

"Is Owen still in bed?"

"I guess so." She saw her mother nod her head and walk out of the room. He had gotten home just in time for dinner. He always knew to be home with enough time to take a shower to wash off the smell of the pot he had been out smoking. Alicia never approved of his little antics but he was her little brother, and no matter what she could say she didn't have enough authority over him to get him to stop. Alicia put her coffee mug down on the counter and searched around the kitchen trying to find an idea of what to eat for breakfast. She was too sluggish still to actually cook herself something so that left her with toast and cereal, and toast was still too much effort so she just decided on a huge bowl of the first cereal she could grab; cheerios. As she poured the milk into the bowl Owen came trudging into the kitchen.

"Coffee?"

"Pot." Alicia answered, pointing to the machine. She put the milk back in the fridge and took her bowl and mug to the living room. She switched on the television and curled up on the couch, bowl in lap. Alicia was well aware that both she and Owen were too old to watch Saturday morning cartoons but it was still nice to keep a childhood _tradition, _you could say, going. A minute after Alicia sat down Owen came in too, sitting next to Alicia and pulling the rug off the back on the couch to cover them both.

"I heard a strange story yesterday." He spoke, nonchalantly.

"Which was?" Alicia said before scooping some cereal into her mouth.

"That you were going to the senior class party tonight." Owen turned his head to Alicia, waiting to see her reaction. She took in a deep breath and swallowed her food.

"Yep."

"Yep as in you hear what I'm saying, or yep as in yes you are going?" He blurted out. She turned to look at him and saw the look of complete disbelief on his face.

"Don't be so shocked, Owen. Yes, I am going." She looked back to the TV, as did he.

"I… I'm completely shocked. You never do anything. You're basically a saint." That cut her a little bit. Half of her classmates would always use that as an insult. Saint Alicia, as she was known to all of them.

"Claudia wanted me to go and I just thought since it is my last year I would go to at least one party." She shot back, defending her decision to go.

"I didn't have you pegged as one of those party girls."

"People change Owen." It dawned on her that her decision to go had nothing to do with her friend and everything to do with Will Gardner. Two weeks ago she would never in her wildest dreams go to a party, let alone go just to meet a boy there and yet here she was doing exactly that.

"I might see you there then." She snapped her attention to him.

"It's a senior party, why would you be there?" She gave him a harsh look.

"Wow, sis, you really need to get out there more. Just because it's the senior party that doesn't mean that all the other years aren't there." Well that was a shocker to her. She really knew nothing about high school parties.

"Oh…" She whispered and focused back onto her breakfast.

"Yep." Owen paused. "Did you tell mom or dad you're going yet?"

"No, I was going to later. I'm sure they won't have a problem with it though. I'm not you." Alicia smiled to herself. She prided herself on being the complete opposite to her bad boy brother.

"Oh, ouch!" He feigned offence and slapped his hand over his heart. "You do have a point though." He took a sip of his coffee and moved around on the couch more, wrapping himself in the blanket some more.

"I know I do." She mumbled with a mouth full of cheerios. They sat there for twenty minutes not saying anymore to each other, just watching whatever nonsense was going on in the cartoon on the television.

"Morning kids." Alicia heard her father's voice behind them and she looked over her shoulder to see him.

"Morning dad." She said to him, and Owen just waved his hand in the air as a hello. Their father walked to the back of the couch and ruffled Owens hair.

"What's on the box?" He asked as he reached down to give Alicia a kiss on top of her head.

"Nothing interesting." Owen said dully.

"Hey dad?" Alicia chimed in.

"Yes?" He moved around the couch and sat in one of the lounge chairs in the room.

"There is a party tonight, for the senior class and—" Owen snorted, obviously objecting to the fact that it was only for the seniors. Alicia shoved her brother and continued. "_And…_ I was hoping you and mom would let me go?" She gave him a small, sweet smile and he looked away with a look of deep thought on his face. It was definitely his tell. He would be so over dramatic with his thinking when he had no problem with whatever it was. It used to make Alicia and Owen laugh for hours it seemed when they were kids. Though they didn't laugh so much anymore, it was still fun.

"If you stay safe then I have no quarrel. Ask your mother though." He then stood back up and walked out of the room.

"What will you tell them if you'll go tonight?" Alicia asked her brother casually.

"I'll just tell them I'm staying at Jack's or something. Which is what I probably will do after the party."

"Do you want me to drop you off there before the party then?"

"Well if you're offering, I'll take you up on that." Alicia turned to Owen and gave him a friendly smile.

"Of course I'm offering. I'm going to Claudia's beforehand anyway so dropping you off is not a big deal."

"You're my favorite sister!" He yelled out into the room and moved around the couch so he could hug her.

"I'm your only sister." It was their little thing with each other to say that. If Alicia were to tell Owen he was her favorite brother he'd always say he was her only brother, and vice versa.

\\

Alicia stood in front of her closet. She had been standing there for ten minutes trying to figure out what to wear. She hadn't pulled out one piece of clothing yet, which was the beginning to figuring out what to wear. She had no idea. Should she wear jeans and a shirt with a cardigan? It was comfortable but not exactly party-chic. She could pick a dress, or skirt even but she knew she'd get cold. Especially if she wasn't drinking, which she was sure she wouldn't be. Shorts were completely out of the question. She started to look through her shirts, surely that would be a safe place to start. She went through long sleeves, short sleeves, and singlets. Shirts that showed cleavage, shirts that didn't show any. It was a tough decision and half of them ended up all over her bed. Soon she finally decided to wear a simple black t-shirt with a V-neck which would show some cleavage and she would match it with a dark grey skirt that had burgundy and navy flower patterns on it. She threw on some tights and slipped on some black boots and even though it took over an hour to choose, it looked like it took her five minutes.

She tried hard to tackle her curly hair, but it wouldn't do anything she wanted it to. She had to leave it down but at least it wasn't all over the place which she was incredibly grateful for. So being completely ready and it being 7.30 that night she went downstairs to see what everyone else was doing. As she walked out of her bedroom Owen called to her. She turned around to see him leaning out of his door.

"You're wearing that?" He asked.

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing." He popped his head back into his room but Alicia wouldn't let him stay silent about her outfit. She walked to his room and entered it.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It took me an hour to get this combo." He sat at his window sill smoking a cigarette, which made Alicia's stomach turn a little.

"There's nothing wrong with it. It's actually very nice, it just doesn't seem like you." He shrugged his shoulders and he blew out the smoke.

"I don't know how to respond to that Owen."

"You don't have to respond, but maybe you should put on some eyeliner." He tapped the cigarette on his makeshift foil ashtray.

"Really?" He didn't usually offer style suggestions, not that she needed them often.

"Yeah. You've got great eyes, so you should make them bold and let them stand out."

"I, uh. Okay. I'll go do that then. Thanks Owen." He shrugged again and looked out the window. "We'll go soon, okay?" He nodded his head. Alicia left his room and went to their bathroom across the hall. She rummaged around in some draws and finally found the eyeliner. She rarely used it but her mother had given it to her as some sort of encouragement to become more like any other teenager. It didn't work.

She applied it with a steady hand and looked into the mirror at herself. Owen was right, it made her eyes stand out just a little bit more. She thought about maybe Will liking it floated around in her head, but she swatted it away before too long. He probably wasn't that interested in her anyway. She left the bathroom and called for Owen to get his things. Alicia retrieved her little bag from her room and went downstairs. She said her goodbyes to her mom and dad, agreeing that a 1AM curfew was alright for a Saturday and left the house with Owen. As she got into the car her stomach started to flutter around and she started to feel nervously sick. It being the second real party she had ever been to and one with Will there was a terrible combination for her nerves. She took in a few deep breaths and felt okay to drive off. Soon she'd be there, and she wouldn't be able to just run home. She had to be tough and stick it out, but she still felt queezy.


	4. Forget The Repercussions

_AN; So the party chapter has come, and it'll be in two parts. I'm writing the next part now so that should be up within a day or two! Please enjoy everybody!_

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Alicia parked halfway down the street from Andrew's house and she could already hear the loud music and shouting that was associated with parties. She still couldn't settle her stomach, even though Claudia tried by giving her some dry toast and reassurances that she wouldn't bail on Alicia this time. And though that wasn't the reason, Alicia wouldn't tell Claudia that. It'd give her too much satisfaction to know why Alicia was feeling so nervous.

They walked down the street at a normal pace and got to the gate of Andrew's house. Alicia pulled on Claudia's arm and turned her around so Alicia could see her face.

"Under no circumstances are you to let me stand around alone looking like someone who doesn't know how to have a good time at a reckless pool party. Got it?" She was deadly serious with her friend. It would be the worst thing for her to be seen that way, especially at this party in particular.

"I swear on my life. You will not be left alone." Claudia pulled Alicia in for a hug then grabbed her hand and they walked through the yard to get to the backyard gate. At this point Alicia could barely hear herself think the music was so loud. She had no idea what the song was and she wasn't all that into it but she could see how people might like it to be played at wild parties. The friends went through the gate and started to observe the chaos that had already begun. They certainly weren't the first to arrive but they wouldn't the last. The two girls walked around the pool a bit and stood close to the make-shift lifeguard chair. No one was sitting in it currently and Alicia wondered why these boys would build it if no one would use it.

Claudia pulled her out of her thoughts as she pressed her mouth to Alicia's ear.

"I'm going to get a drink. Do you want one?" She yelled into her ear, and yet Alicia barely heard her. She just shook her head, she wasn't one to drink alcohol. "I'll be right back!" Claudia let go of her hand and made her way through the people standing around the pool to get to the keg.

Alicia continued to look around at who was at the party. There were definitely kids who weren't even seniors in attendance and she told herself to let it go, it was normal. She remembered Owen's words that everybody went. She just didn't know how serious he had been. She scanned the yard and then spotted somebody pushing their way out from the dance floor crowd. Dance floor was putting in generously; it was just an area in front of the DJ booth where everybody danced. If you could call it that. She'd call it flailing.

The boy was dressed in bright red pool shorts and a red and white striped shirt. _He must act as the lifeguard_, she thought. She couldn't quite recognize him because of how dark it was. She watched him cross the yard, chatting and giving fist bumps along the way and then climbed the very dodgy looking lifeguard's chair and just sat there, twirling the piece of string he had that held a whistle at the end. There were only a few people in the pool, and she could tell why. She was very cold, so she was glad she didn't wear any less clothes. Soon Claudia returned holding a cup that didn't smell all that appealing.

"What's in the cup?" She tried to yell into Claudia's ear.

"Something with tequila!" She yelled back. As far as she knew tequila was fairly strong stuff and she almost vowed right then and there to never drink it but Claudia held it out to her.

"Just try it!" Her friend yelled into her ear.

"I have to drive us home!"

"One sip is fine at the beginning." Alicia seriously considered that. It was true that one sip at the beginning of the night would in no way affect her driving ability. So she looked at Claudia then slowly reached her hand up to the cup. She'd have to try it to know for sure she would never drink it again. She grabbed the cup and looked to her friend who had the widest smile on her face. She turned her face away from Alicia and let out a loud 'Wooo!'. She got a few yells back and then Alicia reached the cup up to her lips. She knew it was the beginning of a rather crazy night. She took a quick sip and tasted the tequila straight away, and surprisingly, it wasn't horrible. Strong, but not horrendous. She was about to take another sip but the loud noise of the lifeguard's whistle distracted her. She turned around and looked at the guy who was pointing across the pool and blowing the whistle again. She looked in the direction he was pointing and noticed that some of the people had formed a small pathway. The next thing she saw was another boy running through the people and jumping high into the air before pulling his knees up to his chest and plunging into the pool, causing a huge splash. There were a lot of screams and yells of excitement over the guy who had just cannonballed into the pool.

"Who was that?" Claudia yelled into her ear before taking the cup back from Alicia's grip.

"An idiot." Alicia murmured to herself. Then she just shrugged her shoulders as a response to Claudia and turned away from the pool. "I'm getting water or something." She yelled to her friend, realizing that she would not have a voice in the morning. Claudia nodded and Alicia started to make her way through the crowd of people. She got a few interesting looks on her way to the house. Obviously people were surprised to see her at a school related party. She couldn't care less though. If they wanted to be shocked, then she'd let them be just that. She was almost at the back door of the house when she heard someone call out her name.

"Alicia, hey!" She spun around and managed to see through the darkness that it was Will Gardner. He was soaking wet and was rubbing a towel against his hair trying to dry it. He smiled at her and that was when she lost feeling in her legs. She stumbled a little bit, which she thought must have looked ridiculous because she was just standing there. She felt her cheeks burn red as Will reach out to her to make sure she didn't fall flat on her face.

"Woah, are you okay?" He chuckled lightly. Probably not at her clumsiness, hopefully actually.

"Yeah, fine! I'm clumsy." She smiled at him, trying to be nice and not seem like the lunatic who randomly falls over like an old woman.

"I was just getting a drink, want to come?" He smiled at her again as he pulled the towel over his shoulders and held onto each end with his hands.

"Sure." He started walked in the same direction she was originally going and couldn't help but notice his chest. She wasn't one to really find anyone so darn attractive, but it was hard when there was a very cute, very nice guy who had his shirt off and was dripping with water. She followed him into the house which was a lot less rowdy than outdoors. There were some people standing here and there with some friends, just talking. Probably because it was a lot easier to hear people. She followed Will to the kitchen. They bench tops were covered in bottles of alcohol and a lot of cups. Will took two cups and filled them with some lemonade. He then reached for a bottle of something clear.

"Oh none for me. I'm driving later." He smiled and nodded, continuing to pour some of the liquid into only one cup. "So, cannonballs?"

"I just thought I'd get things going out there. Plus I've already had a few." He let out a hearty laugh and Alicia smiled awkwardly. He probably shouldn't be doing ridiculous stunts into a swimming pool if he had already been drinking.

"I'm glad to see you here." He told her after taking a gulp of the drink and handing out the other cup to her. "Some of the guys said you'd never in a million years come." Oh great, he was talking about her around the guys. That made her a lot more nervous than she already was.

"You talk about me?" She asked confused. Normal girls would probably put a flirty hint on that but she couldn't possibly find any reason as to why Will would talk about her.

He looked down at his feet and slowly pulled his head up, meeting her gaze. "Yeah. Well, I mean, I was just mentioning that I would have liked to see you come and they told me that." She nodded slowly, swallowing his words, and still confused. "Why would they think you wouldn't be here?"

"Oh, I'm just not a party type person." She answered candidly.

"But you're here tonight…"

"I, well, my friend needed to have a designated driver and she convinced me to do it." Not the entire truth but it'd do. Alicia couldn't tell him that he was a major factor into deciding to attend tonight.

"Okay. That's nice of you." He didn't sound impressed or convinced by her answer, and that worried her.

"Yep." She had nothing else to say. She could not for the life of her find another topic to talk about because all she could notice was the small drops of water dripping from his hair and falling onto his chest. She hadn't noticed it before but since they weren't talking now, it was all she saw.

"Want to go for a swim?" His charismatic and charming voice pulled her attention away from his perfectly sculpted body.

"I'm sorry?"

"I just asked if you want to go swimming." He smiled and she would have probably said yes, but she didn't have any bathers.

"I'm not dressed for it. I didn't bring anything."

"You don't have to wear bathers. I don't think anyone would care." _Of course not._ Girls running around and swimming in their underwear? No one here would mind that at all, especially the boys…

"I just don't feel like it." She smiled at him to reassure him and he got the message.

"Okay. I'm gonna go back out and jump back into the pool. Maybe do a flip this time." He chuckled to himself and she joined in too, which only surprised her. "I'll see you later then, yeah?"

"Sure." And with that he had left the building. She stopped herself from thinking about what she was going to do and took a moment to look around the kitchen and spotted the phone on the wall beside the fridge. She dialed her house number and reached her mother.

"Don't tell me you're ready to come home."

"No, I was just wondering if you could come pick me and Claudia up later, say around midnight?"

"I thought you were driving back."

"I will not be sober, mom. I won't be able to drive, so just come to thirty three George street at midnight please, and thank you." She hung up the phone and took her cup over the bottle Will had put down earlier. She opened it hesitantly and poured some of the liquid into her cup. She wasn't entirely sure how much to put it so she just poured for a few seconds. She put the bottle back down and picked up her cup. She raised it to her lips and almost felt sick immediately from the smell permeating her nostrils. She took a sip of it and coughed away the first, strong taste of the alcohol. But just like the tequila she had before, it wasn't actually that horrible, just strong. So she poured some more soft drink into the cup and had another taste. It wasn't so strong and this time she gulped half of it down.

For once in her life she would forget about _all_ the repercussions from drinking and just try to have some fun. It wasn't like her, but she thought that maybe she shouldn't be so… _herself_ all the time.

She went back outside, back to the blaring and idiotic music, and spotted Claudia at the opposite end of the pool that the DJ was.

"So my mom is going to pick us up later." She told her friend. Claudia looked up to her confused.

"Why?"

"I'm drinking." She stated simply and took a sip from her cup, wincing slightly from the harsh taste again. It would be a while before she got used to that. Claudia grabbed Alicia's hand that held the cup and raised it up to her nose.

"You are drinking! Oh my god!" She yelled to Alicia.

"Yep!" She turned to her friend who was looking like a proud mother for some reason. "What?" She asked.

"I'm just so proud of you."

"I don't think you should be proud that I'm drinking, but thanks anyway." They laughed together and looked forward to the pool, and once again the crowd had parted to form a walkway like it had before Alicia went into the house.

"Someone is going to jump in again, I think." Claudia said, and Alicia nodded in agreement. She had an inkling about who that might be. They watched for another minute before someone emerged from the darkness of the human walls. It was definitely Will. People started cheering and Alicia though that was ridiculous too, but hey, people were drinking and they'd do anything while inebriated. And she had started to feel a bit woozy herself from the alcohol he'd consumed. She was not a drinker so it hit her fast.

She focused on Will, watching him as he looked around the crowd of people doing the same as her. People started chanting his name and then he looked right at her. He took a few steps back, getting ready for a run up and smiled charmingly. He then saluted her, which she laughed at while looking directly at him, and he took a few large bounds before jumping into the air and doing a successful flip into the pool. Everybody else started clapping and yelling, and some even jumped into the pool after Will.

Maybe it was the effect of the booze (or maybe she would just blame it on that) but that was the moment she knew she started to feel a little something for Will. Something that wasn't just the possibility for some sort of friendship between them, something that would develop into something a lot more if she wasn't careful. She thought it was crazy. She had met him less than a week ago and already she felt attracted to him. All he had done was smile at her in a way that would melt her brain every time and cause her to stop making any intelligible thoughts, and make a fool (a charming fool) of himself which she usually hated about someone. She never liked show offs, and yet here was one she was starting to like.

She couldn't, and wouldn't, process her feelings at that moment. She had decided to have fun and that wasn't fun. So she took another sip of her drink, and turned back to Claudia. Her friend asked her to go dance and even though she wasn't coordinated enough for normal dancing, party dancing fortunately didn't take much skill so she accepted and they maneuvered their way through the crowd.


	5. Spinning

Alicia and Claudia walked into Andrew's house and collapsed on the couch in his living room. People were bustling around everywhere. The amount of people really had only grown over the next hours and it had definitely gotten all the more rowdy and loud. They had danced their asses off outside and now their legs just hurt. They needed to collapse somewhere comfortable. Not to mention their spinning heads that came as a result from the drinks they had consumed.

"I don't think I'm going to be drinking again for a long, long time." Alicia mumbled.

"You say that now…"

"Nope, I mean it. This was a baaad idea." She closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the couch, which didn't make her feel better and probably just more tired than she already was.

"No, I mean it." Claudia sat up on the couch and pulled Alicia's body up, making sure to look in her eyes. "You think drinking seems like a good idea at the time, and then you feel tired and shitty and you can't seem to walk straight and you know it was a bad idea. Then when it all subsides you think it's a good idea again. It's a vicious circle, dude."

"You're freaking me out. Stop." Alicia didn't want to hear any of that. Claudia's little information burst just scared her, and she was hoping that she could stop herself from seeing that drinking again was a good idea. It wasn't, and she needed air to think straight. She stood up, slowly, careful not to trip on anything.

"I'm going to get some air, away from people."

"I promised not to leave you but I'm staying. I'm comfy now." Alicia was about to ask if she wanted to come with her anyway, about to convince her it'd do some good to get fresh air but some boy had quickly sat down on the spot Alicia had just vacated from. He was a little bit cute and was giving Claudia flirty eyes so she left them to it and walked back outside, heading for the front yard where it would certainly be quieter and would have less people. She managed to find her way to the front steps leading up to the door and sat down, wrapping her arms around her own body to keep herself slightly warm. She looked up to the dark sky, trying to focus on the few stars she could see but it made her feel dizzy so she dropped her head down. That's when she heard a female voice coming from the street.

"I guess I'll see you later… _Will._" She couldn't tell whose voice it was, and she couldn't see the girls face when she walked through the front gate and made her way through to the backyard. She couldn't see straight, let alone think straight, but she was sure that the girl was talking about Will Gardner. Her heart sunk down into her chest a bit. A few seconds passed and Will emerged from the street too. She hoped that he couldn't tell there was somebody sitting on the steps; she wouldn't want to draw his attention away from any of the other girls at the party. She had no such luck because he stopped at the gate and then slowly started walking towards her.

"Who's that sitting there?" He asked, interested. Should she say something, or should she just run away? There was something about the alcohol swimming around her body because her mouth started moving and she started forming words, hopefully intelligible words since she was saying something to him now.

"It's Alicia. What's up, dude?" S_o not the best thing I could have said…,_ she thought to herself.

"Oh hey!" He sounded quite surprised. "What are you doing out here?" He walked towards her and sat down next to her. She twisted her head around and rested her elbows on her knees, letting her head fall into her hands to be held up.

"I needed air."

"Did you start drinking?"

"Yep. Don't know why though. It's… Strange?" He laughed, and it sounded so infectious, she almost laughed with him but the sound of that girl who had just walked by came back into her head.

"It is pretty strange, but good I'd say."

"Who was that girl?" She asked him quickly, not caring about their current topic of conversation.

"I'm almost certain her name was Sally."

"Oh, Sally…" She turned her head around to look forward.

"Do you know her?"

"Nope." He laughed again, smaller this time, and Alicia somehow found it more attractive than his bigger sounding laugh. It was just more understated and it made him seem like less of a show-off.

"So do you have a boyfriend Alicia?" That certainly came out of nowhere.

"No, do you?"

"Do I have boyfriend?" He said sounding like he'd explode with more laughter. She was glad he didn't because all the joints in her body would turn to jelly and she fall into a pile of goop at the bottom of the steps. "I do not have a boyfriend. And I don't have a girlfriend."

"Then Sally was?"

"Sally was..." She could tell he was trying to find an appropriate word to describe their relationship to one another. "A friend." Well that was simple enough.

"Probably a good friend, right?"

"I don't know. She was an okay friend." Alicia wanted to drop the subject and she was horrified with herself that she had even responded to the topic in the first place. That's not something you talk about with the guy you probably like. Though she wasn't sure now. He disappearing with a different girl was a little nauseating to her.

"Do you think we could be friends?" He asked her.

"I…" She couldn't say yes. That would be outrageous. She wouldn't go and have a quick drunk hook up with him.

"I don't mean like that." She sighed with relief. "I just mean, like real friends." She saw nothing wrong with that. He seemed like a nice guy, even if he was the show-off type of person.

"I don't see why not."

"Good. I'd like us to be friends." She almost looked over to see if he was smiling, but she couldn't let herself think about that sort of thing anymore. If they were becoming friends.

"I kind of figured that a few sentences ago." She giggled to herself and fell back onto the wood flooring of Andrew's front porch. Yes, lying down seemed like good option.

"You're not falling asleep are you?" He asked her.

"I just can't see straight and it's making me dizzy." She felt him lay down beside her. She could feel the heat from his arm cross the small space between them and gently caress her own arm. It felt good, too good.

"Maybe you had too much to drink."

"I don't think that's it. I barely had anything." She really only did have that first cup of whatever it was, and she did let Claudia mix her another one which had tequila in it like when they had first gotten there.

"How often do you drink?"

"Never."

"Then you've probably had too much for you. What did you drink?" Alicia wanted to see that this was Will being sweet, kind and caring but maybe it was just concern for someone at a party. Of course he was nice, but she figured that plenty of people would do the same that's he's doing at the moment.

"Just a couple of cups of something. I put whatever you drank when I was in the kitchen with you into my drink and then my friend gave me some tequila."

"How much of the stuff in the kitchen did you put in your drink?" He had a hint of apprehension laced in his voice. She tried to remember. It couldn't have been that much, really.

"I don't know. I just poured it in. I held it up for about four or five seconds. "

"Shit, that's too much a non-drinker."

"I don't care. I just wanted to drink. I don't anymore." He laughed loudly, and she joined in, even though it made her feel sick.

"You have a good laugh." He sighed and shifted around on the ground. She never thought it was anything special. In fact, she thought she had a crazy laugh. It always seemed too loud to her, but maybe she was just being critical because it was hers.

"Alicia!" She heard Claudia's voice calling her from far away.

"Someone's looking for you." Will said softly.

"That's Claudia, my friend." She heard her name again, closer this time. "Do you have the time on you?"

"I'd say it's near midnight."

"Shit. Shit." She sat back up and paused, she had to get her head to stop spinning.

"What?" She felt him sit up with her.

"I've gotta go. I'm getting picked up about now."

"Oh, okay." She could tell he sounded disappointed.

"I'm sorry." She turned around and met his gaze. It felt like her eyes were burning when they met with his, and she could barely see his face. It was only cast in faint moonlight and light from a street lamp, mixed with shadows. Yet it felt electrifying.

"Oh, there you are!" She snapped her gaze forward and saw Claudia standing before her. "Your brother is looking for you. I think your mom is here."

"Oh shit!" She shook her head. Her parents were not supposed to know Owen was at the party. "She'd not meant to know he's here."

"Well I guessed that, because he seemed to have just gotten an earful when he asked me to find you."

"Okay, we better go then." She turned back to Will who was still looking at her. "I'll see you at school then?"

"Yeah sure. Seeya, _friend._" He gave her a cheeky smile and she couldn't help but giggled at it. She stood up and grabbed ahold of Claudia's arm, making sure she wouldn't trip and fall on something while walking through the yard to walk out onto the street.

"You were sitting with him, _alone. _And in the dark." Claudia whispered into her ear.

"It was nothing."

"Don't tell me it was nothing, it was something." Alicia spotted her father's car and walked straight for it.

"Do you know how much trouble Owen is in?" Owen shouldn't have been seen by her mother, and Alicia felt responsible for it. If she hadn't asked her mother to come pick her up then Owen would probably have never been seen and he wouldn't be in trouble.

"A lot I think." They got to the car and climbed into the back seat together. Alicia could feel the extremely tense atmosphere inside the car.

"Hi sweetie. Hi Claudia." Veronica said to them, her voice also tense.

"Hi Mrs. Cavanaugh." Claudia sounded awkward and Alicia wouldn't blame her. She knew all of her mother's voices and this was one to look out for. Alicia looked to Owen in the front seat. He had his arms crossed and his back turned away from their mom as much as he could manage with a seat belt on.

"You girls okay?" Her mom asked them and began to drive away.

"We're fine mom."

\\

The whole car ride back to Claudia's house was epically stressed. Nobody had said a word since they started to drive off and Alicia just held onto her friend's arm, letting Claudia lean on her shoulder. They dropped her off and that was when the yelling started.

"You lied! You flat out lied to me that you were going to Jack's house. And did you know about this Alicia?" She had to protect her brother, but she didn't actually want him to get in trouble. And those two things couldn't be reached at all right now. They were both in a different dimension completely and she could only get herself in trouble now, which she would do.

"Yes. I knew he was gonna be at the party."

"I had no trouble with you going Alicia, I think you're old enough now, but Owen, you are way too young. So you're grounded for two weeks."

"What? That's crazy. I'm actually completely sober." Alicia had to hold back a laugh. That was the biggest lie of the year.

"Cut it out, Owen. One, I can smell the alcohol on your breath. And two, your clothes reek of pot."

"Come on, it's not like you never used to smoke." Alicia wanted to crawl into a hole now (or better yet, bed); she knew Owen had just stepped in it big time.

"I do not want my kids to make the same mistakes as I did. You've got to grow up and realize that drinking and smoking aren't _cool_ like you think." Their mother's voice could probably be heard by passing cars and Alicia would be the first to admit she was a little scared, but Owen had shut up for now, and she was glad. He is always the one to push the limits with their parents and Alicia wished that he just wouldn't. That he would just have a calm few weeks and just be a good kid. But that wasn't Owen…

They pulled up into their driveway and Owen raced out of the car, storming into the house. Alicia got out slowly and wait for her mom to get out too.

"I'm sorry for yelling like that." Her mother told her in a sweet motherly voice.

"It's okay. I should have told him to not go and stay at Jack's for real. I'm sorry."

"It's not up to you to make sure he does the right thing Alicia. He's got to work it out on his own. I just hope it doesn't take him too long." She smiled to her mother and walked to the front door.

"Is dad in bed?" She asked her mom.

"Yes. He went up just before I left. He's probably asleep." Alicia nodded, a little disappointed. She would have like to see her dad before she had gotten home. Or at least to say goodnight. Instead she just whispered her goodnights to her mother and went up to bed. She walked into her room and closed the door softly. She turned on the light and looked in the mirror.

She almost screamed at how she looked. Her hair was a mess, she had weird drink stains on her skirt (_from the idiots who brought their drinks to the dance floor_), and the eyeliner had smeared around her eyes too much. She thought back to talking with Will. Maybe he was looking at her so much because she looked like a train wreck.

She walked out of her room and into the bathroom. She hoped that it was too dark to see just how awful she looked. He probably wouldn't have stayed around so long if he could actually tell she looked like the wicked witch of the west right? And it was a fair comparison. She hadn't stopped feeling nauseous at all so no doubt she would have green undertones to her skin.

She took out a make-up wipe and started removing the horrible raccoon eyes. Then Owen stumbled his way into the bathroom.

"I saw you come in here." He said softly and jumped up onto the counter. Alicia dropped her hands from her face and looked to him apologetically. He looked to her and quickly turned away. "Please don't stop taking that horrible stuff off." Well, _that_ hurt, but she did as he advised.

"I'm sorry I couldn't cover for you." She said to him.

"It's alright. You can't do it all the time. I probably ask you to do it too much."

"You probably do." They giggled softly together, wary that their dad was sleeping. It was never a good thing to wake him up from sleep.

"It was a good party though, wasn't it?" He asked sincerely.

"Yeah, it was good."

"You started drinking. How do you feel now?" She was grateful for him asking. She felt like crap. She was sore and extremely tired, and she still couldn't see straight enough so she was constantly missing the eyeliner completely.

"Like crap."

"Claudia told me you seemed interested in the new guy at school?" Damn it, she hadn't even told her friend and yet she could still see that Alicia was a little interested in Will. Though this was her brother so she would tell him what she could.

"I was talking to him at the party. It was nice."

"Oooh, Alicia. Getting your groove on, are we?" She stifled a laugh at his comment.

"I don't know, Owen. I just want to sleep now." She'd done her best to get the eyeliner off and she'd just try again in the morning.

"Sure. Alright, well I'll see you in the morning. Drink plenty of water."

"I will. See you." She smiled at Owen, or at least tried to, and went back to her room. She stripped down and got into a pair of fresh pajamas that felt better than anything in the world, turned off the light and climbed into bed. With how good her pillow felt, and how awful she felt, Alicia was sure she would never drink again. And with that thought she was off to sleep in a matter of minutes.


	6. So Let's Study

_AN; I swear I will try to update more regularly! I do hope you are all still with this story. And thank you to all reviewers and followers!_

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It was a little more than a week until Alicia and Will had spoken again. She found it a little odd considering they had decided to be friends when they talked at the party. It crossed her mind that he could have just forgotten they talked at all because he had so much to drink that a small conversation with her was worth forgetting. She hoped that wasn't the case though. She wanted to be friends with him, if no reason other than to stop ogling him from afar and just ogle him a lot closer. He was rather cute, and charming, and sweet, and really good to look at.

The day they did talk it was like being friends. Maybe it just happened like that. They decided it and it was so. He had asked her if she could help him with some work from their English class they had together. So it wasn't entirely 'friends' talk, it was more 'classmates' talk, but people didn't usually ask for help from non-friends, right? She was confused by it all but that was a part of being a teenager anyway. She had agreed to help him. They could talk to each other that way, and hang out, which seemed to be a good idea. And so they planned to meet in the school library during their free period on Thursday morning.

Alicia walked through the double doors and veered left to the study area, and was surprised to see Will already sitting at a desk with his books out. She approached the table slowly.

"You're here already." She voiced. It was certainly a shock to see him there before her.

"Yeah. Why would I be late?" She shrugged her shoulders to his question and sat down opposite him and placed her folder on the desk.

"I don't know. I just thought you'd probably do a few minutes of socializing with your friends outside or something."

"I don't see the point in that if I'm expected to be somewhere." He gave her a quick smile and it washed over her like a wave of warmth and happiness. She was expecting that way less than she was expecting him to be there on time.

"It's good you're on time then. If you want my help you have got to be punctual." She straightened her back and looked directly at him, trying to take control of her own body and make sure she didn't just faint on the table because he was sitting so close with his smile, and his hair being that way, and him smelling like that. He was just impeccable right now and she didn't want that to be such a distraction.

"Yes ma'am." He gave her a stern look, obviously just playing with her, so she unconsciously let out a small giggle.

"Don't call me ma'am." She said back to him. It felt wrong on so many levels.

"Okay, I won't." He smiled to her once again and she just looked at him. She couldn't stop herself, it was so mesmerizing. She felt the corners of her mouth curl up, so she was smiling back at him. Then she got ahold of herself again. She closed her eyes and shook her head to get whatever they were doing to stop.

"So you asked for my help to study." She quickly said, opening the folder in front of her to get the assignment they had been given out.

"I did. I asked Wes about helping me but he said that if I want _real_ help I should talk to you." She looked up to him confused. She never thought about people actually noticing her doing the work everybody was given. She was certainly used to kids leaning over to copy her work, but she didn't think about them talking to each other saying to copy her because she had the right answers. People just do it and shut up, generally.

"He told you that?" She asked him, still confused. Wes wasn't the nicest guy in school but he was smart. He had a good head on him even if he didn't use it to his full potential. So he could have helped Will out.

"Yeah, and since we decided to be friends I thought that it would be good for us to hang out." Will looked down to his own books and flipped through a couple pages to find his notes. So he really did remember their conversation. Alicia felt a little happier once he said that. "But anyway. I think I only understand half of the actual work we're meant to do. I know I should know how to do things by now but getting an essay started is always the hardest part for me." He continued.

"It's a bit of a challenge for me too. I just have no idea what my first words should be. I always worry if they're convincing enough."

"That's what I get." They laughed softly with each other, remembering that they were in the library and it is meant to be a quiet place. Even though there was no one else around them. Alicia was vaguely aware of two students looking through books on the other side of the library, but again, that was only vaguely.

"So why don't you tell me what you're thinking to write down and I'll just tell you if it's good enough. We can work out the formatting after that." She smiled encouragingly to him. He nodded to her and started to list out the notes he had made and thoughts on where he should start. She listened intently and threw out suggestions here and there, which he seemed grateful for. Of course he would be though, _he asked for the help._

Though it was still only a few weeks into the school year it was always best to get a jump on things. That's what she had heard, and that's what she told Will. He had heard this too, from everyone. It was so easy to start lagging at the beginning, telling yourself there is time to catch up but of course one thing piles on top of another and soon you have a gigantic stack of late work to complete. Alicia was afraid of that happening to her, which she voiced to Will mindlessly as she wrote down some notes of her own.

"Oh come on, Leesh. You're probably never going to lag behind." She stopped writing and slowly looked up to him.

"What'd you just call me?" A smile came over her and it reached Will, who smiled back.

"Well I can't call you ma'am. You ruled that out. Should I refrain from Leesh too?" He joked with her, and she liked the feeling of joking around with a friend. That only happened with Owen and Claudia.

"No it's okay." She dropped her head and some hair fell around her face. She tucked it behind her ear and pressed her pen to paper, writing again. "I like it." And she did.

"Good." A few seconds later the school bell rang out, alerting them that they had to quickly pack their things and get moving to their classes. Alicia put everything back into her folder and stood beside the desk, waiting for Will.

"You don't have to stay there. Go if you need to." He said as he dropped his pen into his bag. Alicia liked things organized so she almost cringed at the fact he didn't have a case to put the pen in.

"It's fine. I don't need to rush."

"You know, _Leesh, _you're a very good studier. Maybe we could do this again." She frowned at him, again confused by him. That seemed to happen a lot, she noted to herself.

"I thought that was the point. That we'd continue to study together and that it wasn't just a one off." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice, and she was pretty sure it was because he almost just implied that this study thing was probably like a date to him and that it'd only ever happen once. She had no evidence to suggest that he thought this, but it just seemed that way.

"Well I only needed help on the beginning of my paper, but I'll probably get stuck on other things too." He started to walk away from the table and she took a place next to him as they both exited the library. "Besides, I like chatting with you. You're good company as well being a good studier." She swallowed his words, trying to figure it all out as they walked down the hallway past all the other students, barely noticing them.

"I'm not going to constantly help you do your work. _You_ have to do it, Will. You won't be able to lean on me for support when you're struggling." She noted to herself that she sounded a little bitchy. She was well aware he would be completely capable of doing all of his work himself, but something about the way he wanted to keep studying with her ticked her off. He stopped in his tracks and pulled on her arm to get her to face him so she did.

"Look, I'm going to do all my work. I'm not trying to copy yours or feed off your ideas or anything." He said defensively, which she understood. Now she just wanted to apologize. "If you don't want to study with me then don't, but don't be so weird about it."

"I wasn't trying to-" She wasn't certain where she was going. "I didn't mean-" She sighed loudly, clearly frustrated. "I'm sorry for thinking you wanted to copy me, but I don't have a lot of friends who just want to be my friend. I don't even have people who want to study with me. I get people looking over their shoulders to see my work and write it down. I'm used to that here." She did her best to tell him what she wanted to say, but that wasn't even half of it. He just looked at her sympathetically, and it made her feel horrible.

"But I'm not from here. I'm not like that. I want to do my own work so I can be proud of it. So my parents can be proud of me. Just trust that I'm not trying to look over my shoulder to copy your work. Okay?"

"Fine. I get it. I'm sorry." She said softly. She started to feel less horrible now that he was sufficiently defending himself. He stepped forward and to the left, pulling her arm again to turn her forward, and they began to walk again.

"I hate to bring it up again so quickly but we can keep studying together, right Leesh?" He sounded happy again, like he was about to laugh off whatever just happened.

"Yes." She smiled to herself but then turned her head to look at him. "We can keep studying."

"I'm glad to hear it." He looked ahead of them and stopped beside a door which must have been his next class. "I'm in here." She nodded her head and watched as he turned around and started to walk into the room. "I'll see you later, _Leesh!_" He called out to her just as he entered the room and Alicia could do nothing but laugh. That nickname she had been given was growing on her, and quickly too. The way he said it was just perfect. It sounded so much better than simple Alicia. Even if it did have two less syllables.

She started to walk forward again and only then did she realize she had been walking the wrong way the whole time. She spun around and started to walk swiftly down the corridors to her next class. In the years she had been at this school she had only ever taken the wrong turn twice, at that was on her first day there. She couldn't quite comprehend that it was simply walking with a really cute guy and having a conversation/semi-argument with him that could make her go the wrong way and not even know it. It gave her an insane feeling that she wasn't used to and she couldn't even name. Alicia had never been one of those girls to instantly lose their brain when the boy they were a little interested in started talking to them. She was apparently known for being the smart one who would take in any soul who needed help to study now. Alicia Cavanaugh was a smart girl. And Alicia Cavanaugh reminded herself of that as she walked into her next class and sat down… _With Will filling up her thoughts…_


End file.
